Where to start with Xavier? Universally considered one of our greatest freeriders, he began his career racing boardercross, picking up four world titles. Then he switched his attention to freeriding, winning three Freeride World Tour titles. He followed this by embarking upon some of the greatest and most ambitious snowboarding expeditions ever, hitting up Antarctica and Svalbard, among others. And along the way, he found the time to create era-defining film parts, produce countless films and win endless plaudits from the snowboarding and adventure media.

Xavier in his element

The thing about Xavier though, as you’ll hear while listening to our conversation, is that there’s much more to him than one of the most storied CVs in the history of snowboarding. Here is a very intelligent, very focussed and insightful individual, who has constantly been driven by evolution and the need to progress, whether that’s through his various projects or his entrepreneurial involvement with at least five different companies.

Now, as he explained during our conversation, Xavier’s next evolution is about where he takes his snowboarding as he hits 40.

Highlights include:

How somebody like Xavier copes with his top-level pro career drawing to a close.

The enjoyment he takes from his various business ventures.

The early mentor that set him on the path he follows today.

The questing spirit that is behind each of his diverse projects.

His memories of the golden years of boardercross.

It’s an insightful, open, revealing chat from one of modern snowboarding’s true greats who got right into the spirit of the Looking Sideways podcast. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

If you only have five minutes…

Listen to this section
- Xavier on accepting that he isn’t prepared to push it at the same level he always has.